Us Against the World

Elizabeth is about to perform in a ballet and her old love comes to support her. He tries to calm her down because she is so nervous. By doing this, feelings shared between them start to rise to the surface again.

Submitted:May 4, 2013
Reads: 13
Comments: 1
Likes: 1

Elizabeth stood backstage and peeked through the curtain at all
of the people. She is nervous. She had practiced for this ballet
for so long and now it was finally here. Her heart was racing and
she was shaking. She couldn't breathe.

As she continued to watch the other ballerina perform, she heard
someone come up behind her. She turned around to see Adrian. She
didn't expect him to come.

"Hi," Adrian said.

She took a deep breath, "Hi."

He had flowers in his hand and a certain sadness fell upon his
face.

"I didn't expect to see you tonight," she said.

Adrian and Elizabeth had been together for three years but now
they were no longer together and hadn't been for almost a month.
He had known her better than anyone so they still tried to
maintain a friendship but it was hard considering there was still
deep feelings between them.

"Well I know how much tonight meant to you so I wanted to try to
be here for you," he replied.

"Well that's nice of you but I wish you wouldn't have come. I
can't do this. I'm so nervous and I know I will do something
wrong. I can't do this."

She put her head down with disappointment.

He stepped closer, "No Liz, you can do this. Look at me."

She looked up at him and stared into his eyes.

"You can do this. I know you're scared but you need to set the
fear aside. Go to a place in your mind that makes you feel safe.
Go to a place where only you exist and where fear doesn't exist.
You are going to be great out there and I can promise you that no
matter what happens, you're still going to have a number one fan
right here."

She studied him and saw that he was so confident. She closed her
eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she nodded.

Adrian realized how close he was to her and backed away, "Now,
I'm going to go sit down. Remember, a safe place where only you
exist and nothing else matters."

He walked away and she was now determined to do well. She could
do this.

As Elizabeth walked to the side of the stage to go on, she took
one last deep breath. She closed her eyes for only a moment. She
was ready.

As Adrian took his seat, she was on stage. She was doing
brilliant he thought. He smirked to himself and put his hand to
his mouth. He was astonished. Each movement she made was so
precise.

As Elizabeth was performing, she was lost in her own mind,
ignoring reality. She twisted and twirled but she was in another
place. She was in a place where she had been once before.

As Adrian watched her, he felt tears form. She looked absolutely
beautiful and he was so proud of her. She overcame the fear and
was now performing a beautiful art so perfectly. Each step and
gesture was performed so beautifully and she was now invincible.

An hour later, the entire performance was ending. Adrian
immediately got up and went backstage to congratulate Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was in her dressing room when Adrian walked in with the
flowers. She turned around and gave him such a beautiful smile.
He smiled at her in return and came up to hug her.

"You did it! Elizabeth, you were amazing! Absolutely stunning!"

She laughed as they held each other for a moment. Then, he backed
away.

"And these are for you," he said as he handed her the flowers.

She took them, slightly brushing her hand on his.

"Oh Adrian, these are beautiful. Thank you so much." Elizabeth
put her nose to them.

"You're welcome. Well, I should probably get going. You probably
have parties to go to and all that."

She was disappointed when he said this. She wanted to celebrate
but only with him.

"Oh, okay. Well thank you so much for coming. It was really nice
to see you."

She spoke with sensitivity in her voice and she was looking down
at the floor so he wouldn't see tears forming.

"You too Elizabeth."

He then turned around and slowly walked to the door. Before he
opened the door, he turned around and said, "Elizabeth you were
amazing tonight. You were so beautiful. You were a vision of
loveliness and I'm very proud of you."

She continued to look at the floor and smiled.

"Summer Hill," she said. She then looked up at him with tears in
her eyes, "You told me to think of a place where I felt safe and
I thought of Summer Hill. The place where you first said you
loved me. I thought of the water and the tree that we lied under.
Summer Hill."

He turned completely to face her, "You did?" His words were
spoken with pain.

She smiled, "Yes. And I know you wanted me to think of place
where only I exist but the truth is, I don't exist unless I'm
with you. You're a part of me Adrian."

Elizabeth started to cry harder and looked away from him.

Adrian didn't say anything. The more she heard nothing but
silence, the more she cried. Then she heard footsteps and she
stared up. He walked up to her and kissed her. He placed his hand
on her cheek and she wrapped her arms around him. The pain that
had been felt by the both of them was overwhelming but at this
moment, all pain seemed to disappear.

He then put his mouth up to her ear and whispered, "You'll always
be a part of me." He then held her.

They both knew that they weren't perfect but they were perfect
for each other. There would be good days and bad days still to
come but at the end of each day, they knew that they still had
each other. They accepted each other for who they are and for all
what they are capable of being. In an imperfect world, a lot of
good and bad things can happen but to know that you have one
person to laugh or cry with and someone who understands means
life can be a little easier. Someone to stand beside, always. It
was them against the world and they would cherish every moment
that was theirs.